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Presidential Minister Juan Carlos Orillac said in a news
conference that the move would allow the government to
reestablish order and “rescue the province” from “radical
groups.”
He said the damage caused overnight was “unacceptable and did
not represent a legitimate protest.”
What began as nationwide protests against changes to the social
security system morphed Thursday night into people damaging the
local airport and the facilities of banana giant Chiquita
Brands, which fired thousands of striking workers in the
province last month.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino had said at the time that
the banana workers’ strike was illegal and included some 5,000
workers.
On May 27, the government declared a state of emergency in the
province without suspending constitutional protections.
Last week, the government sent some 1,500 more police to the
province with the objective clearing protest roadblocks.
Security Minister Frank Abrego left open the possibility of
sending more on Friday.
But actions by masked people authorities described as criminals
overnight led Mulino to announce Thursday night that he would
meet with his Cabinet Friday to take action. The perpetrators
forced their way into the airport in Changuinola, Bocas del
Toro's main city, where they vandalized cars and started a fire
in the local baseball stadium. They sacked Chiquita's shuttered
facility and destroyed a local office of the National Civil
Defense Service.
Flights at the airport were still suspended Friday.
Protests, marches and occasional roadblocks have stretched from
one end of the country to the other as teachers, construction
workers and other unions rejected changes the government said
were necessary to keep the social security system solvent.
Demonstrations have occasionally turned violent, but the forced
entrance of people to the airport and banana facility overnight
triggered Friday’s government reaction.
Earlier this month, Mulino brought in a Catholic archbishop and
a rabbi to act as mediators with protesters.
Last week, Panama’s Congress approved a new law for the banana
sector that was part of an agreement to end the strike by
protecting workers’ benefits like medical assistance and labor
protections under the new social security regime.
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